EICMA’s MotoLive outdoor program closed on Nov. 8 with a new Champions Charity Race winner and three Italian Supercross titles decided. Alex Salvini defeated Carlos Checa in the charity superfinal, while Edoardo Riganti, Giovanni Meneghello and Yuri Quarti secured championships in SX125, Lites and SX450.
The outdoor arena extended EICMA beyond static displays, combining established champions, current racers, youth classes and title-deciding competition in front of the Milan crowd.
Salvini takes the Sunday charity victory
The legends race divided competitors into road-racing and motocross groups before bringing the category winners together in a superfinal.
Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri met again in the road-racers’ final. Checa won after a technical problem slowed Melandri. In the motocross group, Salvini defeated Christophe Pourcel in a close main event.
That set the overall final between Salvini and Checa. The official MotoLive report says Salvini controlled the matchup and took the Sunday victory. The result reversed the previous day’s outcome, when Pourcel won the superfinal over Checa after Salvini made late mistakes in the motocross contest.
Ducati’s post-show report adds that Checa won the road-racing category on both days and finished second overall in each superfinal. He rode a dirt-track-prepared Ducati Desmo450 MX, part of a three-bike Ducati presence that also included Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus.
Youth races deliver their own drama
The final round of the Internazionali d’Italia Supercross 24MX Series began with the smaller classes. In SX65, Federico Grimi took the early lead before Leonardo Bungaro caught him. Grimi fell at a decisive moment, leaving Bungaro to claim a second victory in two days.
The SX85 race followed a similar pattern of pressure changing the outcome. Brando Danesi took the holeshot, but Simone Proietti moved ahead. Pietro Riganti charged into second and challenged for the lead before a crash ended the duel. Proietti won ahead of Anthony Montoneri and Dominick Maifredi.
Those classes did not provide the senior headline, but they are an important part of the event structure. Putting developing riders on the same program as famous champions gives spectators multiple entry points and gives younger competitors experience in a high-attention environment.
Riganti, Meneghello and Quarti take titles
Edoardo Riganti dominated the SX125 race from the first corner to the finish. The win also secured the championship. Enrico Panaccio finished second and Maxim Zimmerman third after Davide Salmini crashed near the line and lost a likely podium position.
In Lites, Giorgio Orlando led from the opening corner and established a pace the field could not match. Julien Lebeau was the only rider in position to challenge, but a chain problem stopped his run near the end. Giovanni Meneghello inherited second place and, more importantly, the series title. Alessio Bonetta finished third.
The SX450 race produced a direct title-winning pass. Mario Tamai took the holeshot with Yuri Quarti close behind. Quarti increased his pace around the midpoint, moved into the lead and won both the race and the championship.
Quarti then returned for the combined Superfinal. Orlando led for more than half the race, but Quarti again found a way past and controlled the remaining laps. Orlando finished second and Paolo Martorano third.
Why the event format matters
MotoLive was not simply a collection of unrelated demonstrations. The final day connected four useful event elements: recognizable veteran riders, an accessible charity format, championship consequences and a progression of youth and senior classes.
That combination can keep spectators engaged for longer than a single exhibition. A fan drawn by Checa, Melandri or Salvini may stay for the supercross final. A family following a youth rider can see the senior championship decided on the same track. Manufacturers receive product visibility in action rather than only under exhibition lights.
For Canadian show and event organizers, the format is more useful as a programming case study than as a racing result alone. Canadian motorcycle, snowmobile, ATV and side-by-side shows often compete for attention with online product reveals. Live demonstrations, skills events and charity programming can give visitors a reason to attend in person.
The operational challenge is equally clear. Outdoor competition requires space, safety systems, scheduling, weather planning, technical inspection and coordination with sporting authorities. The MotoLive report noted improved Sunday weather after more difficult conditions earlier in the event, a reminder that the live component introduces variables a conventional hall display does not face.
A weekend of different winners
Salvini’s Sunday victory followed Pourcel’s Saturday overall win, while Checa won the road-racers’ category on both days. Those results gave the charity program a repeated matchup with a different overall winner each afternoon.
The championship program produced a different kind of consequence. Riganti combined a race win with the SX125 title, Meneghello secured the Lites championship with second on the day, and Quarti won the SX450 race, the title and the combined Superfinal. The varied routes to those championships gave spectators more than a single headline contest to follow.
EICMA and MotoLive closed their 2026 editions with the Sunday program. The final-day report records improved weather, a large crowd and victories across youth and senior classes, alongside the charity-race finale. For visitors, the outdoor arena offered motorcycles in action after a week of new-model presentations inside the halls.
